Helen

One woman went astray, and all the world
  Got up and going – ships were put to sea,
And swords got sharpened, and the princes hurled

Their forces' fire into the fray, to be
  Right in the thick of things, and not to miss
The fairest face their era knew, when she

Might show upon the wall, her looks a kiss
  For parching souls - the merest glimpse would do;
Excuse enough to bear the rough abyss

Of misery that they would find their due,
  The dirt around their tents, the lack of food,
The cruel disc up in a sky too blue,

The jealousies, the anger that accrued
  Between old foes, the trickeries, the shame,
The unprovoked hostilities that strewed

The field with gore, all in a woman's name...
  But then, she had green eyes, and in her smile
There lay a lure that made men take all blame

Upon their shoulders, hoping all the while
  To find looks aimed at them; they'd be well-paid
For many a dangerous and lonely mile

And hardships soon forgotten, as she played
  Their heartstrings like a lyre. Half in dreams
They'd have her image haunt their days, arrayed

In fine white linen, sewn with golden seams,
  And on her long, dark hair a band of gold
That sparkled in the sun's adoring beams

And when the heat died down, and day grew old,
  The light might drop behind her and display
Her shapely limbs in shadows, and the cold

Was counterbalanced by the sight – a day
  Of longing brightened by such breasts, such charms
That even though full half a mile away

Would set their hearts a-beating, and their arms
  Would hurt with sad desire as on the walls
Essential beauty gave her cruel alarms.